Whole



' SH( JE LAST. I

Patented Ma r l 9 I 1 8 6 l No.729. a 1861. WHOLE No. 31,733.

Last for Boots and Shoes.

JOSIAH H. NOYES OF ABINGTON, MASS.

Letters Patent No. 729, dated March 19, 1861. i

I SPECIFICATION- TO ALL PERSONS TO VVHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:

Be it known, that I, JOSIAH H. 'NOYES of Abington, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Lasts for Boots and Shoes, and that the following description, taken-in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exactspecification of the same, wherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my said improvements, by which my invention may be distinguished from all others of a similarclass, together with such parts as I claim, and desire tohave secured to meby Letters Patent.

The figuresof the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements. Fig. 1 is a plan or top viewof my improved last. I I Fig.2 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3is similar section of a view of a last made of a somewhat modified form.

Fig. 4 isa view of the last opened, or theparts separated. In the manufacture of boots and shoes, the frequent removal of the last from the upper, rendered necessaryft'his is espedially the case in the more modern mode of operation, where the sole is sewed machinery" to the upper, which necessitates the very frequent removal and insertion of the last. i

The lasts, heretofore used, have been so constructed, that they could not easily be taken out of the boot or shoe, without straining and injuring the upper. My improvements consist in forming the last in two pieces, so that the front and heel portions of the last can beseparated from, or fastened to, each other; this arrange ment being made by cutting' the last transversely in such a manner that the two 2 U. PATENT Orrron, 1861.-N o. 729.

Noyess Impmved Last for Boots and Shoes.

parts can readily and quickly be fastened together or disconnected, and yet hold 7 firmly together and prevented from Wabbling when so fastened.

In the accompanying drawings, the last a a b b is represented as divid ed at or near the shank transversely. In figs. 1, 2, and 4c, the rear portion Z2 Z). of the last is formed with a wedge-shaped tongue 0 c, that fits into a corresponding groove 6 e,

; so as to form a dove-tailed joint, which prevents all lateral motion, or wahbling,

when the portions aat b are fastened together. To prevent any up and down play between the front and rear portions of the last, I employ a slotted sliding plate ff, travelling over set screws 9 g on the rear portion 1) band fitting under a lip h fixed to the front portion a a. The engagement, or disengagement, of the two last, is efiected by slipping the tongue 0 c vertically in or out of its groove 6 e. The plate ffis moved forward so as to engage withthe lip h, and then fastened by the set screw 9 g, when the last is to be inserted in the boot, or shoe. The last can readily and quickly be taken out of the upper, without injuring or straining the same, simply by loosening theset screws 9 g, sliding back the plate and then inserting a hook and pulling. out the rear portion 1) b, which, by means of the arrangement of the tongue 0 a, travelling in the groove 6 e, can thereby be easily removed from the boot or shoe The. front portion a a is then of course perfectly free to be taken out. A substantially similar arrangement, though a modified form of my improvement, isrepresented' in fig. 3, in the transverse cutting of the last, instead of being in one straight line, forms an angular joint 2' t, the tongue 70 k fitting into the grooves] Z to prevent the lateral play of the parts, and the up and down movement prevented by-a set screw m the removal of the last is efi'ected in the same manner as in the first instance, by pulling vertically on the heel portion of thelast, after loosening the screwm. 1

Having thus described my improvements, I shallstate my'claim as follows: What I'claim as. my invention, and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent, is, in a last formed in two parts by cutting it transversely at, o'r near the shank. I claim the dove-tailed groove, and tcnon joint as described, in combination with the slotted sliding plate, and set screws on the one section and the lip fixed upon the united at pleasure, all lateral play isprevented when united.

other section of the last, the whole being constructed and arranged, so as to operate substantially in the manner set forth. Whereby, while the, parts may be dis- JOSIAH II NOYES: Witnesses Josnrn GAVETT, A. W. BROWN. 

